I am a big fan of Lonely Island and Andy Samberg so when I saw the trailer for Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping I was pretty sure I would love it. The guys didn’t disappoint and had me laughing almost throughout the film. If you’re a fan of Lonely Island, mockumentaries, or comedy music then you should check out Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping as soon as you can as it earned the Must See rating from me.
Popstar’s laughs can’t stop not stopping!
Conner (Andy Samberg) was in successful rap/pop group called The Style Boyz with his friends Owen (Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) before he broke off for his solo career. Conner’s first album was a success, but when his second album drops and sales aren’t what is expected he finds himself working hard to keep his celebrity status.
Written by Lonely Island and directed by Taccone and Schaffer, the film pokes fun at the world of popstar’s. As a good mockumentary should, this film is packed with celebrities some playing themselves and others taking on small, and often funny, roles. Sarah Silverman plays Paula, the publicist, Time Meadows is the group’s manager, Harry, Chris Redd as Hunter, and Joan Cusack is Conner’s mom Tilly. Then 50 Cent, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson and many others show up as themselves or in bit roles with varying levels of impact on the film.
My favorite aspect of the film that isn’t connected to the Lonely Island trio is the CMZ crew. Will Arnett, Chelsea Peretti, Mike Birbiglia, and Eric Andre play the reporters that are a direct parody of TMZ’s crew. The scenes are hilarious and add some nice jabs from celebrities to the paparazzi.
The real star of this film is Andy Samberg though and he kills it. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is currently one of my favorite sitcoms and he is ultimately the reason. He manages to play a loveable oaf while providing hilarious music that is both funny and easy to listen to. This film has great scenes that are memorable and I hope can survive time like This is Spinal Tap’s famous moments. The soundtrack for this film should be able to as the songs are of the same quality as most of the Lonely Island albums.
This film is a stupid comedy, which I say with love, that excellently parodies a lot of the popstar lifestyle we see on the news and MTV. The jokes land well and are timed perfectly. They don’t give too many moments to rest, but the film does find some opportunities to have some heart. It even manages to keep a storyline even though it’s framed as a documentary.
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